Merchandising system method, and program product utilizing an intermittent network connection

ABSTRACT

A business application integrates a company&#39;s internal business systems with an e-commerce web site, so that company personnel can manage their business with a business application that seamlessly exports relevant, up-to-date data to a web site designed to interact with customers across the Web. The business application provides business functions for manipulating merchandising data stored in a merchandising database. In addition, to accommodate an intermittent connection to the Internet or otherwise to the web hosting server, the business application supports the generation of a replica, from the merchandising database, that can be exported to a web hosting server. A web application executing at the web hosting server generates web pages based on merchandising data stored in the partial replica. The customer can provide feedback, possibly representing purchase orders or customer information changes, for example, that can be automatically entered into the company&#39;s business system. Alternatively, the customer can download a client replica, generated from the partial replica at the web hosting server, for use during periods of disconnection from the web hosting server. Thereafter, the client replica and the partial replica can be synchronized to update each other with modified data. Furthermore, the partial replica and the merchandising database can also be synchronized.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/153,410 entitled “A MERCHANDISING SYSTEM TO ACCEPTAND RELAY PURCHASE ORDERS ONLINE WITH METHODS FOR MAINTAINING THEDATABASE UTILIZING AN INTERMITTENT CONNECTION” and filed Sep. 10, 1999,and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/189,755, entitled“MERCHANDISING SYSTEM UTILIZING A CLIENT REPLICA FOR ACCEPTING ANDRELAYING ORDERS” and filed Mar. 16, 2000, both of which are incorporatedherein by reference for all that they disclose and teach.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates generally to electronic commerce systems, and moreparticularly to a merchandising system utilizing an intermittent networkconnection.

BACKGROUND OF THE RELATED ART

Electronic commerce (“e-commerce”) is relevant to many segments of theeconomy. For many years, companies have used Electronic Data Interchange(EDI) technology to communicate data, such as purchase orders, invoices,and electronic payments, via a communication network with othercompanies. Because EDI relies on contractually established proceduresand interfaces, EDI primarily addresses a predetermined set ofcompany-to-company transactions. Furthermore, setup and maintenance ofEDI systems can be an expensive prospect, often precluding its use bysmaller companies.

In the past, the communications connections between companies haveincluded dial-up access and direct connections between the companies'networks. Furthermore, the technical sophistication that is required tosupport an EDI system is significant. With the advent of the Internet,more companies have easy access to the Web sites and extranets of othercompanies, promising to lower the costs of EDI for the foreseeablefuture. Nevertheless, cost and technical requirements remain significantobstacles preventing some companies from employing EDI.

Another more recently developing segment of e-commerce involvesretailers and customers. In the retailing segment of e-commerce, acustomer can go online to access a retailer's e-commerce web site toconduct business, such as researching and purchasing products andservices, managing their financial assets, and obtaining technicalsupport. The web site provides an interface to data, such as customerdata, product data, and transaction data, and applications, such as apurchase application or a credit card processing application. It is saidthat most retailers must now have an Internet presence to be competitiveplayers in their markets. However, the costs and technical complexity ofdeveloping and maintaining an e-commerce web site also prevent someretailers from doing business on the Web.

A third segment of e-commerce relates to wholesale transactions betweenvendors and retailers. For example, a grocery store may order a shipmentof cheese from a cheese vendor, such as KRAFT or a small specialtycheese supplier/distributor. For some vendors, particularly smallervendors, the grocer places such orders through a wholesale broker, whorepresents multiple vendors. Typically, such orders are placed viatelephone calls or faxes between the grocer and the broker, who calls orfaxes the vendor to place the order. While a large vendor may have theresources to maintain an e-commerce web site for such orders, smallervendors and brokers tend to be left out of the e-commerce world becauseof cost and technical complexity issues.

Typically, an e-commerce website is hosted on a web server computer.Some companies internally maintain the web server and develop thesoftware executing on the web server. Alternatively, many companiesexist to provide such Web hosting services to a wide variety ofbusinesses. Likewise, the development of web pages and applicationexecuted on the web server can also be contracted out to web developmentcompanies. However, to smaller companies, the costs and/or technicalsophistication required to establish and maintain a web presence, evenwith the assistance of these Web hosting and development companies, mayprevent their participation in the e-commerce revolution. Often, theeconomies of scale that would initially allow such a larger company toinvest the resources into developing and maintaining an e-commercesolution are not available to a smaller company. Even approaches thatallow a company to access and maintain its e-commerce web site (onanother company's web hosting server) through a browser interfacepresent financial obstacles (e.g., significant storage, connection, andbandwidth charges) and technical obstacles (e.g., the time andsubstantial technical understanding to make customizations through aninterface that is not the same as the company's standard businessapplication's interface). Accordingly, another approach for providing aneasy, low-cost e-commerce solution is desirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above and other problems are solved by a system that integrates acompany's internal business systems with an e-commerce web site, so thatcompany personnel can manage their business with a business system thatseamlessly imports and/or exports relevant, up-to-date data to a website designed to interact with customers across the Web. Furthermore, anembodiment of such a system may provide feedback, possibly representingpurchase orders or customer information changes, for example, that canbe automatically entered into the company's business system.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a user can maintain the website data and display characteristics (e.g., web site fonts, layout,images, etc.), as well as process consumer and vendor transactions,without having to maintain the data and operation via an alternativeuser interface. For example, the business application can provide theexclusive interface to the merchandising data, web site displaycharacteristics, and order processing. In such an embodiment, nointermediary or translation module is required to map data (moreparticularly, data in given tables, rows, and fields) into alternativedata configuration for use on the web site. Instead, the databasesassociated with the business application and the replica used by a webapplication at the web site may be consistent (and still need not beidentical) so as to facilitate rapid synchronization. For example, inone embodiment, only marked differences between the merchandisingdatabase and the replica are synchronized, thereby reducing the time andbandwidth required for synchronization, although the present inventionis by no means limited to this particular embodiment.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a merchandising system forprocessing a customer order in association with a Web hosting computer,a client computer, and a business application computer is provided. TheWeb hosting computer and the business application computer areintermittently connected by a communications link. A merchandisingdatabase contains order data. A web host interface establishes thecommunications link with the web hosting computer. A replica generatorexecutes on the business application computer to filter out at least theorder data from the merchandising database, to create a replica, and totransmit the replica to the web hosting computer across the intermittentconnection. A web application executes on the web hosting computer togenerate an order guide that displays data from the replica on theclient computer system.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a merchandising systemfor processing a customer order in association with a Web hostingcomputer, a client computer, and a business application computer isprovided. The Web hosting computer and the business application computerare intermittently connected by a communications link. A merchandisingdatabase contains order data and display characteristic parameters. Abusiness application accesses the merchandising database and generates areplica of at least a portion of the merchandising database. A webapplication receives the replica at the Web hosting computer andgenerates an order guide displaying data from the replica on the clientcomputer system. The order guide includes display characteristicsconfigured in accordance with display characteristic parameters recordedin the replica.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a method of processingorders using a merchandising database storing merchandising data isprovided. The orders are generated responsive to at least one selectionentered at a client computer coupled to a Web hosting computer. Areplica is generated containing at least some of the merchandising datafrom the merchandising database. A communications link is establishedbetween a business application computer system executing a businessapplication and the Web hosting computer. The replica of themerchandising database is transmitted to the Web hosting computer fordisplay in a web page on a client computer. The communications link isdisconnected between the business application computer system and theWeb hosting computer, responsive to the operation of transmitting thereplica. An order based on the replica and originating at the clientcomputer is received after the disconnecting operation via anindependent communications link. The merchandising database is modifiedin accordance with the order.

In other implementations of the present invention, articles ofmanufacture are provided as computer program products. One embodiment ofa computer program product provides a computer program storage mediumreadable by a computer system and encoding a computer program forexecuting a computer process for processing orders using a merchandisingdatabase storing merchandising data. Another embodiment of a computerprogram product may be provided in computer data signal embodied in acarrier wave by a computing system and encoding the computer program forprocessing orders using a merchandising database storing merchandisingdata. The computer program product encodes a computer program forexecuting on a computer system a computer process for processing ordersusing a merchandising database storing merchandising data. The ordersare generated responsive to at least one selection entered at a clientcomputer coupled to a Web hosting computer. A replica is generatedcontaining at least some of the merchandising data from themerchandising database. A communications link is established between abusiness application computer system executing a business applicationand the Web hosting computer. The replica of the merchandising databaseis transmitted to the Web hosting computer for display in a web page ona client computer. The communications link is disconnected between thebusiness application computer system and the Web hosting computer,responsive to the operation of transmitting the replica. An order basedon the replica and originating at the client computer is received afterthe disconnecting operation via an independent communications link. Themerchandising database is modified in accordance with the order.

These and various other features as well as other advantages, whichcharacterize the present invention, will be apparent from a reading ofthe following detailed description and a review of the associateddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a merchandising system in an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates more details of a merchandising system in anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3A-3K illustrate an exemplary database schema of a merchandisingdatabase in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates components of a business application in an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 5 depicts a business application screenshot of a “Parent” window inan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 depicts a business application screenshot of a “Customer” windowin an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 depicts a business application screenshot of a “Vendor” window inan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 depicts a business application screenshot of a “Contact” windowin an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 depicts a business application screenshot of a “Product” windowin an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 depicts a business application screenshot of an “Order” windowin an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 depicts a business application screenshot of an “EDI” window inan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 depicts a business application screenshot of a “Representative”window in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 depicts a screenshot of an “Order” web page in an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 14 depicts screenshot of an “Order” web page populated withselected products in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 depicts a screenshot of an “Order Review” web page in anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 depicts an exemplary computer system that can be useful in anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 depicts a screenshot of order processing by a businessapplication in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 depicts a screenshot of a dialog box indicating that an emailorder has been located in the inbox of the business user in anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 depicts a message box indicating a date variance in anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 depicts operations for processing orders using a merchandisingdatabase in an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a merchandising system in an embodiment of thepresent invention. An exemplary business application 100 assists a userin performing important business functions, such as taking orders,tracking commissions, managing a product catalog, and managing customerrelationships. For example, a user may be an employee of a brokeragency, having one or more independent sales representatives whorepresent vendors in wholesale transactions in a given geographic ordemographic market. Although an independent sales representative (or“broker”) is discussed in association with an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention, other users are contemplated with the scope ofthe present invention, including without limitation manufacturers,distributors, and retailers. In addition, some specific users andconsumers of embodiments of the present invention may include withoutlimitation retailers providing web-based shopping list, recipe, orbridal registry support, rack jobbers, construction project managers,hardware stores helping home owners with organizing home repair orimprovement projects, adventure outfitters organizing and outfitting anouting, and travel vendors or travel integrators providing a completesolution for travelers.

For clarification of the exemplary embodiment involving the brokeragency, it should be understood that a broker agency typically employeesfor contracts with one or more independent sales representatives.Another term for a broker, provided by the U.S. Department of Labor, isa “manufacturer's agent”, wherein a broker agency is a “manufacturer'sagency”. Each sales representative represents a set of manufacturers,distributors, or service providers to other entities in a supply chain.In a concrete example, a representative may represent a specialized teavendor in wholesale transactions with a regional retailer (e.g., grocerystore or tea shop). The retailer would contact the representative andplace an order for a given tea. The representative would then contactthe vendor to place the order and have the tea shipped to the retailer.Each of the parties to the transaction (i.e., the retailer, therepresentative, and the vendor) gain benefit from this relationship. Forexample, the retailer can contact a representative to order a variety ofproducts from multiple vendors, rather than contacting each vendorindividually. The vendors receive marketing and customer contactservices through the brokerage in exchange for a commission provided tothe brokerage and the representatives for each order.

Continuing with the example of a broker agency, the business application100 provides the broker agency with an interface to the agency'sbusiness, such as data relating to vendors, customers, orders, products,prices, commissions, and individual agents/representatives employed bythe agency. Such data may be stored in a merchandising database 116 ofstorage medium 102, which is coupled to the business application 100.The business application 100 also provides important businessfunctionality, such as conditions tracking, order processing, reporting,and automated pricing. The business function capabilities of anexemplary business application are discussed in more detail relative toother Figures in this description.

The business application 100 may also include a communications link 110for communicating with the computer systems of one or more vendors. Thecommunications link 110 represents a logical or physical data linkbetween two or more entities. In embodiments of the present invention, acommunications link may include without limitation the Internet, theWAN, a LAN, a broadband network, a satellite or otherwise wirelesscommunications link (e.g., such as wireless link supporting WAP, theWireless Application Protocol), a dial-up connection, and other knowncommunications links. Through the communications link 110, the businessapplication 100 may receive relevant merchandising data from each vendorthe agency represents. Exemplary merchandising data may include withoutlimitation product and service catalogs, invoices, price lists, statusof orders, payment terms, shipping terms, and communications from thevendor. The merchandising data communicated by communications link 110may be stored by the business application 100 in the merchandisingdatabase 116 along with other business and merchandising data generatedby or collected from other sources.

In addition, the business application 100 also allows the agency toexport a relevant portion (i.e., a filtered replica 114) of itsmerchandising database 116 to a storage medium 108 of a Web hostingserver 104 to support an e-commerce application 106, which executes onthe server 104. The filtered or partial replica 110 is a subset of themerchandising database 116 and may also be considered anothermerchandising database in its own right. For example, in the illustratedembodiment, the replica is used to support a consumer's placement oforders. As such, historical order details are not required through ane-commerce application 106 and may be filtered out when the replica isgenerated. Replicas may contain a unique identifier to assist indetermining the level of trust associated with the replica and its user.Such an identifier may be encrypted, signed, or authenticated bycertificate. In addition, although a partial replica is associated withthe illustrated embodiment in FIG. 1, it should be understood that someembodiments of the present invention may employ a full replica (i.e.,including all data from the merchandising database 116) at the webhosting server 104, depending on the configuration of the merchandisingdatabase and the operational requirements of the e-commerce applicationor the structural requirements of a client replica 126.

The e-commerce application 106 provides the agency with the capabilityof marketing products for the agency-represented vendors to a largermarket (i.e., potentially unrestricted by geographical limitations). Inaddition, the e-commerce application 106 presents the agency with theopportunity to market products and process orders more efficiently thanvia the traditional telephone and fax communication channels.

When the business application 100 exports the filtered replica 114 tothe Web hosting server 104 via a communications link 120, theapplication 100 preferably connects with the server 104 via anintermittent connection (i.e., the connection is established during thetransfer of data between the business application 100 and the Webhosting server 104, and thereafter terminated). Alternatively, theconnection may remain in place while communications over the connectionare intermittent. By maintaining intermittent connections orcommunications, the agency may save communication charges and preserveresources by updating the filtered replica 114 periodically, rather thancontinuously. For example, the filtered replica 114 can represent a“snapshot” of a relevant subset of the business and merchandising dataexported from the merchandizing database 116.

It should be understood that a connection between a business applicationcomputer system and a Web hosting computer may be logical in nature anddoes not imply a physical connection. Indeed, wireless communicationsare also contemplated within the scope of the present invention. Incontrast to a physical connection, a logical connection can beestablished between two computers on the basis of various communicationprotocols in which the sender and the receiver are identified inaccordance with a predefined scheme. For example, TCP/IP (“TransmissionControl Protocol/Internet Protocol”) connections employ an addressingscheme in which a communications link is established between a senderand a receiver on the basis of unique address assigned to both. As such,the sender can transmit a message addressed to the receiver into theInternet. Within the Internet, routers direct the message to theappropriate receiver based on the message's destination address.

An alternative communications link can be established by email, in whichaddressing is based on an email address of a receiver. Although someemail systems may be based on TCP/IP addressing at one level of thecommunications protocol stack (e.g., the email addresses of the senderand receiver may sometimes be resolved to individual TCP/IP addresses),email itself is based on a different type of addressing (e.g.,“receiving@destination.com”). In fact, email origins and destinations,and indeed some forms of email itself, need not be based on TCP/IPaddressing. As such, the TCP/IP connection between the Web hostingcomputer and the business application computer is deemed to be anindependent communications link to that established by email. Inaddition, individual logical connections, separated by one or moreintermittent disconnections, are deemed to be independent communicationslinks. Alternative communications links may also be employed, includingwithout limitation telephone communications, fax communications, dial-upconnections, wireless communications including wireless Internetconnections and satellite links, and postal mail.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a retailer or otherpurchasing entity (e.g., a “customer” or a customer's representative)may use a browser 112 on client system 128 to access via acommunications link 122 a web page generated or otherwise provided bythe e-commerce application 106. Through this web page interface, thecustomer may browse product information, place or modify orders, andcommunicate with the agency or vendors associated with the merchandisinginformation (e.g., product numbers, descriptions, available quantities,lead times, back orders, inventory characteristics, etc.) of the partialreplica 114 stored in the storage media 108.

In an alternative embodiment, another replica 126 may be exported fromthe replica 114 and stored on client storage medium 124. This embodimentallows a customer to take advantage of an intermediate connection withthe host 104. The replica 126 may be full or partial, depending on thegiven application of the system. Once exported to the client system, thereplica 126 can be accessed by a client-based application 130. Such anapplication 130 can allow the customer to read or modify the replica 126or select items for ordering via communications link 118, which providesa logical connection between the client system 128 and the businessapplication 100 that is independent of the logical connection betweenthe host 104 and the business application 100. The partial replicas 126and 114 also support bi-directional synchronization there between.

In one embodiment, the communications links 118, 120, and 122 may beInternet connection through an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or someother network access point. Alternatively, direct dial-up connections orany other direct or indirect connections to the host server 104, thebrowser 112, and the business application 100 are contemplated withinthe scope of the present invention. It should be understood, however,that although three separate communication links are shown in FIG. 1,all of the communication links may include Internet connections throughone or more network access points or service providers. For example, inone configuration, the communications link 122 may be an Internetconnection through the customer's ISP to the host server 104, while thecommunications link 118 may be the Internet connection to the customer'sISP coupled to an email communication through the ISP's mail server orsome other mail service. This example, however, should not be read tolimit such a mail service from being hosted on the server 104.

The partial replica 114 can also be bi-directionally synchronized withthe merchandising database 116 with sufficient frequency, despite theintermediate connection, to maintain adequate consistency between thetwo sets of data. For example, if a user merely read accesses themerchandising database 116 or if a customer merely read accesses thepartial replica 114, no synchronization is necessary. Likewise, if thecustomer places an order for one item based on an available quantityrepresented in the partial replica, the application 106 can flag thatone item as tentatively purchased while the order is communicated to thebusiness application 100 via communications link 118. If the order isconsummated within the business application 100 and the merchandisingdatabase 116, a synchronization between the business merchandisingdatabase and the partial replica 114 can occur upon the next scheduledsynchronization event, in response to an acknowledgement of the orderfrom the vendor, or in response to another asynchronous event thattriggers a synchronization (e.g., an inventory update received from avendor). At the time of the synchronization, modifications in either orboth of the merchandising database 116 and the partial replica 114 canbe communicated via communications link 120 to maintain consistencybetween the two databases.

In an embodiment of the present invention, an order generally consistsof two parts: (1) an order header, and (2) line item details. The orderheader may include without limitation shipment and payment information,such as parties to the order, a shipping address, a billing address,payment terms, order date, contact phone numbers, and a cancel date. Inthe line item details portion of an order, information such as an orderidentifier, an item or product number, the quantity, the price, andother order options (e.g., color or size) may be included for eachproduct ordered. Other information may also be included within the orderheader and line item details within the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates more details of a merchandising system in anembodiment of the present invention. The business application 200 iscoupled to the merchandising database storing merchandising data at abusiness application computer 204. The merchandising database 202 ismanipulated through the business application 200 in the course of theagency's business operations. An authorized representative oradministrator who has an account in the business application 200 mayinteract with the business application 200 by way of an input device 228(e.g., the keyboard, a balance, the touch screen, or a microphone) andan output device 230 (e.g., a monitor, a printer, or a speaker). Thebroker agency may continue to receive retailer's orders by phone andfax, entering the orders into the merchandising database 202 via thebusiness application 200. Alternatively, orders may be receivedelectronically, such as via e-mail, HTTP (hypertext transport protocol)communications, ftp (file transfer protocol), dial-up connections, andother electronic communication means via a communications link 222. Inan embodiment of the present invention, electronically received ordersmay be entered into the merchandising database 202 automatically, andthe orders may be transferred to the appropriate vendors automaticallyvia a communications link 206 (e.g., a network connection, a phone line,a fax line, etc.).

In an embodiment of the present invention, incoming orders may beprocessed by the business application 200 to detect and potentiallyresolve variances before being authorized and communicated to a vendor.Variances can be detected based on expected value (e.g., variances mayinclude an order having an amount greater than a given credit limit or alapsed shipping date). A notice of a variance may be presented to abusiness user for resolution (e.g., authorizing a higher credit limit ormodifying the shipping date).

A filtering process (i.e. used in a replication operation), representedby the funnel symbol 208, processes the merchandising data in themerchandising database 202 and generates a replica 210 of some or all ofthe merchandising data. The merchandising database 202 can include awide variety of merchandising data, some of which is unnecessary to theoperation of an e-commerce application 212. Accordingly, the replica 210is preferably, although not necessarily, smaller than the originalmerchandising database 202. The filtering process, therefore, minimizesthe bandwidth required to transmit the replica to the Web hosting server214 and minimizes the storage space occupied by the replica at the Webhosting server 214. The replica 210 is then transferred via acommunications link 224 for storage in a storage medium of the Webhosting server 214. Because use of communication channels and Webhosting servers are commonly charged on a communications bandwidth/timebasis and a storage space basis, respectively, generation andtransmission of (and synchronization with) the minimized replica 224 isa more cost-effective Web-resident representation of relevantmerchandising data than the entire merchandising database 202.

The filtering processing may also be employed during synchronization sothat only fields included in both the merchandising database 202 and thereplica 224 are synchronized, and furthermore, fields that are not to beincluded in one or the other are removed from the appropriate database116 or replica 114. For example, in one embodiment of the presentinvention, order details are omitted from the replica 114 duringreplication and synchronization. However, between synchronization, orderdetails from new orders may be placed by consumers via the web site andthereafter recorded in the replica 114. Accordingly, duringsynchronization, the new order details in the replica 114 are added tothe merchandising database 116 and deleted from the replica 114. In thismanner, orders can be communicated via the synchronization operationthrough the replica without historical order details being perpetuallymaintained in the replica 114. Alternatively, orders may be communicatedto the business application 200 via an independent communication link,such as email.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, a client replicagenerator 250 can be executed on the Web hosting server 214 upon requestfrom a customer using the client system 216. The client replicagenerator 250 can generate a client replica (see client replica 126 inFIG. 1) that is recorded at the client system 216. Accordingly, once theclient replica is recorded at the client system 216, the client system216 can disconnect from the Web hosting server 214 and continue to haveaccess to appropriate merchandising data recorded in the client replica.If changes are made to the data in the client replica, the customer cantrigger a synchronization between the partial replica 210 at the Webhosting server 214 and the client replica at the client system 216.Thereafter, the partial replica 210 can also be synchronized with themerchandising database 202 for processing by the business application200. This process accommodates intermittent connections between thebusiness application 200 and the Web hosting server 214, as well asbetween the Web hosting server 214 and the client system 216.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a retailer or otherpurchasing entity may use a browser on a client system 216 to access oneor more web pages 218 generated by the e-commerce application 212.Through this web page interface, the purchaser may browse productinformation, place or modify orders, and communicate with the agency orvendors associated with the product information of the replica 210,which is preferably stored in a storage medium coupled to or within theWeb hosting server 214. A client-based replica 232 in the client system216 may also be exported from and synchronized with the web-hostingserver 214 to support intermittent connection there between.

The e-commerce application 212 in the illustrated embodiment employs anActive Server Page (ASP) that is coupled to the replica data todynamically generate the web page 218. Alternatively, other means ofgenerating authoring language data (e.g., data in formats such asHypertext Markup Language (HTML), Standard Generalized Markup Language(SGML), Jscript, Java, Extensible Markup Language and (XML)) andcommunicating with back end databases and applications (i.e., CommonGateway Interface (CGI)) are contemplated within the scope of thepresent invention. Screenshots of exemplary web pages are illustrated inFIGS. 13 through 15. The customer can access the merchandising datastored in the replica 210 on the Web hosting server 214 and submit anorder 220 to the business application 200.

It should be understood at the communications link 222 by which theorder 220 is transferred to the business application 200 may beindependent of or different than the communications link 224. Thisdistinction is particularly important when the communications link 224is used to establish an intermittent connection between the businessapplication 200 and the Web hosting server 214. A purchaser may accessthe merchandising data in the replica 210 on the Web hosting server 214and place orders to the business application 200 even when the businessapplication 200 is not connected to the Web hosting server 214.Alternatively, the communications link 222 may be the same as thecommunications link 224, particularly if the connection between thebusiness application 200 and the Web hosting server 214 is active (i.e.,not terminated).

In one embodiment of the present invention, the order 220 iscommunicated to the business application 200 through an e-mail subsystem226. For example, the purchaser submits the order 220 through the webpage 218, and an e-mail subsystem 226 causes the order 226 to beincluded in an e-mail message addressed to an authorized entity that hasan account in the business application 200. It should be understood thatthe email subsystem 226 in an embodiment of the present invention can becoupled to an email server via a network connection to assist in thedelivery of the order 220. It should also be understood that the webpage 218 may be a displayed representation of authoring language datareceived from the Web hosting server (e.g., in a Hypertext TransportProtocol (HTTP) response).

In a vendor setup operation (e.g., the process of adding a new vendor tothe merchandising database 202 for display the “Vendor” window shown inFIG. 7), an indication can also be specified to cause a copy of an order(e.g., an email order) to be sent directly to the vendor in the vendor'schosen format, essentially duplicating the order being sent to thebusiness application 200. In an alternative embodiment, an indicationcan be specified that causes a copy of the order to be sent to thecustomer or the appropriate representative as the order is sent to thevendor.

FIG. 3A-3K illustrate an exemplary database schema of a merchandisingdatabase in an embodiment of the present invention. Each blockrepresents a table in the relational merchandising database of anembodiment of the present invention. Alternative embodiments may includefewer tables, different tables, or additional tables in accordance withthe data needs and functional needs of the merchandising system. Inaddition, aspects of the present invention may be implemented in otherdatabase forms, including a flat database.

Each block is marked in association with a “1” or a “∞”. If two blocksare connected by a line having a “1” on one block and a “∞” on the otherblock, the connection represents a “one-to-many” relationship.Alternative, if the connection is marked with a “1” on each side, theconnection represents a “one-to-one” relationship. In a relationaldatabase, unique identifiers associated with given table rows are usedto relate data in one table to data in another. A “one-to-one” indicatesthat a Table A can have only one matching record in Table B, and eachrecordin in Table B can have only one matching recording in Table A. A“one-to-many” relationship indicates that a record in Table A can havemany matching records in Table B, but a record in Table B can have onlyone matching record in Table A.

FIG. 3A depicts table relationships associated with a “Contacts” tablein an embodiment of the present invention. A “Contacts” table 300 maycontain information relating to various contacts, including withoutlimitation some of the information displayed in FIG. 8. A“VendorContacts” table 302 includes references to the Contacts table 300(e.g., unique identifiers of rows in the Contacts table 300) identifyingthose contacts in the Contacts table 300 that are related to vendors. A“ParentCompanyContacts” table 304 includes references to the Contactstable 300 identifying those contacts in the Contacts table 300 that arerelated to a given parent company. A “Communications” table 306 includescontains information relating to the Communications fields 818 of FIG. 8and references data in the Contacts table 300. A “CustomerContacts”table 308 includes references to the Contacts table 300 and a“Customers” table (see Customers table 314 in FIG. 3B) identifying thosecontacts in the Contacts table 300 that are related to a referencedcustomer in Customers table 314 of FIG. 3B. An “Employees” table 310includes references to the Contacts table 300 to identify those contactsin the Contacts table 300 that are related to a given employees of thebusiness (e.g., the brokerage), such as manufacturer's agents. An“Orders” table 312 includes some of the information relating to the“Order” window of FIG. 10 and references the Contacts table 300 toidentify those contacts in the Contacts table 300 that are related to agiven order.

FIG. 3B depicts table relationships associated with a “Customers” tablein an embodiment of the present invention. A “Customers” table 314 maycontain information relating to various Customers, including withoutlimitation some of the information displayed in FIG. 6. A“CustomerContacts” table 308 (also shown in FIG. 3A) includes referencesto the Customers table 314 and the Contacts table 300 of FIG. 3Aidentifying those customers in the Customers table 314 that are relatedto contacts in the Contacts table 300 of FIG. 3A. A “CustomerLinks”table 316 includes information relating the URLinks, such as datadisplayed by the Links” tab 622. The Order table 312 (see also FIG. 3A)also references the data in the Customers table 314. A “VendorCustNo”table 322 includes contains information relating to the “Cust#” tab 624of FIG. 6 and references data in the Customers table 314. A“CustomerType” table 324 includes data indicating the customer type (seeCustomer Type field in fields 610 of FIG. 6) and references to theCustomers table 314. A “CPmt” table 326 includes data relating tocustomer payments on given orders.

FIG. 3C depicts table relationships associated with an “Employees” tablein an embodiment of the present invention. An “Employees” table 310 maycontain information relating to various Customers, including withoutlimitation some of the data associated with FIG. 12. A “Customers” table314 (also shown in FIG. 3B) includes references to the Employees table310 as well as other tables and identifies those customers related toemployees in the Employees table 310. For example, an employee may be amanufacturer's agent working for a brokerage. Accordingly, the employeemay be associated with one or more of the brokerage's customers throughon-site visits, orders, or other means. The “Orders” table 312 includesreferences to employee data in the Employees table 310. A“ParentCompanies” table 328 includes data relating to the parentcompanies accessible through the “Parent” window in FIG. 5, andreferences the Employees table 310, as represented by the “ParentListtab 1212 of FIG. 12. A “RepLinks” table 330 includes URLinks to websites and data associated with a given employee and references the givenemployees in the Employees table 310. The “RPmt” table 332 includes datarelating to commission payments to employees (e.g., representatives) andreferences the appropriate employee data in the Employee table 310. The“VendorRepNo” table 334 includes data identifying the employee using avendor's identifier and references the appropriate employee in theEmployee table 310.

FIG. 3D depicts table relationships associated with an “Orders” table inan embodiment of the present invention. An “Orders” table 312 maycontain information relating to various Orders, including withoutlimitation some of the data associated with FIG. 10. In one embodiment,the Orders table 312 contains order header information. In addition,each line item detail of an order is recorded in the “OrderDetails”table 336, which references the associated order header in the Ordertable 312. Combined, the Orders table 312 and the OrderDetails table 336store “order data”. A “CreditCard” table 338 includes data forprocessing an order payment using a credit card number and referencesthe associated order in the Orders table 312. A “Transmitted” table 340includes some of the data associated with the fields 1044 in FIG. 10 andreferences the associated orders in the Orders table 312. A“ContractPricing” table 342 includes information relating to discountsbased on specific contracts among parent companies, vendors, customers,representatives, and the brokerage, and references associated orders inthe Order table 312. A “Departments” table 344 includes data describingthe customer's department from which the order originates or isdestined, and is referenced from the Orders table 312.

FIG. 3E depicts table relationships associated with a “ParentCompanies”table in an embodiment of the present invention. The “ParentCompanies”table 328 may contain information relating to various parent companiesof customers and vendors, including without limitation some of the dataassociated with FIG. 5. The “ContractPricing” table 342 includesinformation relating to discounts based on specific contracts amongparent companies and at least one of vendors, customers,representatives, and the brokerage, and references associated parentcompany in the ParentCompanies table 328. The “Customers” table 314references the parent company of each customer in the ParentCompanytable 328, if the customer has a parent company. The“ParentCompanyContacts” table 304 references the parent company withwhich a given contact is associated. A “ParentLinks” table 342 includesURLink data for associated parent companies.

FIG. 3F depicts table relationships associated with a “Position” tablein an embodiment of the present invention. The “Position” table 344 maycontain information relating to a contacts position within a customer'sbusiness, a parent company's business, or a vendor's business (e.g.,field 850 in FIG. 8). Associations with the corresponding customer,parent company, and vendor are made in tables 304, 308, and 346.

FIG. 3G depicts table relationships associated with a “ContractPricing”table in an embodiment of the present invention. The “ContractPricing”table 348 may contain information relating to specialty pricing definedby contracts with various parent companies, representatives, customers,and vendors. A “Contract” table 350 includes the terms of a givencontract and references in corresponding pricing in the ContractPricingtable 348.

FIG. 3H depicts table relationships associated with a “PriceList” tablein an embodiment of the present invention. The “PriceList” table 352 maycontain information relating to various price lists, such as price listassociated wholesale customers, retail customers, and distributorcustomers. The “VendorCustNo” table 322 contains information relating tothe “Cust#” tab 624 of FIG. 6 and references data in the PriceList table352.

FIG. 31 depicts table relationships associated with a “Products” tablein an embodiment of the present invention. The “Products” table 354 maycontain information relating to various products available through thebrokerage or other merchandising entity, such as a retailer, vendor,etc. The “Promotions” table 356 contains information relating to the“Promotions” fields 908 of FIG. 9 and references the associated productsdata in the Products table 352.

FIG. 3J depicts additional table relationships associated with an“Orders” table in an embodiment of the present invention. The “Orders”table 312 may contain information relating to various products availablethrough the brokerage or other merchandising entity, such as a retailer,vendor, etc. The “RPmt” table 332 contains information relating to therepresentative payments (e.g., commissions) and references theassociated order data in the Order table 312. A “Shippers” table 358contains information relating to the shipping company or companies usedto transport the order referenced in the Orders table 312 (see the “ShipVia” field in fields 1024 of FIG. 10). A “VPmt” table 360 containsinformation relating to the payment to the vendor for the productordered and references the associated order in the Orders table 312.

FIG. 3K depicts table relationships associated with a “Vendors” table inan embodiment of the present invention. The “Vendors” table 362 maycontain information relating to various vendors represented by thebrokerage (see FIG. 7). A “VPmt” table 360 contains information relatingto the payment to the vendor for the product ordered and references theassociated vendor in the Vendors table 362. A “Categories” table 364contains information describing commission categories or commissionpercentages associated with a given category of product for a givenvendor. The Categories table 364 also references the associated vendorin the Vendors table 362. The “ContractPricing” table 342 references thevendor associated with a given element of contract pricing, based on acontract between a vendor and other party (e.g., customer,representative, brokerage, etc.). The “Orders” table 312 references thevendor involved in the order. The “Pricelist” table 352 references thevendor associated with a given prices list. The “Products” table 354references the referenced vendor that can supply a given product in theVendor table 362. The “VendorContacts” table 346 references a vendorwith which a contact is associated. The “VendorCustNo” table 322contains an identifier that a referenced vendor associates with a givencustomer. The “VendorLinks” table 366 identifies URLinks associated withreferenced vendors. The “VendorLinks” table 334 identifies an identifierthat a referenced vendor has assigned to a given representative.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the order and order detailsare filtered out when generating or synchronizing with the replica thatis stored to the hosting server. In many circumstances, the order andorder detail data comprise a significant portion of the merchandisingdatabase size, and therefore, the automatic filtering of such data fromthe replica minimizes the storage, time, and bandwidth costs ofmaintaining the e-commerce web site using the replica. Alternatively,other filtering schemes may also be employed in accordance with the dataneeds of the web application on the hosting server. In one embodiment,the entire merchandising database may be generated as a replica on thehosting server.

Likewise, custom filtering schemes may be applied to generating andsynchronizing between a server replica (see replica 114 in FIG. 1) and aclient replica (see replica 126 in FIG. 1). Furthermore, a client cantransmit an entire client replica to another storage location (e.g., thehosting server or some other remote storage location) for subsequentretrieval. This technique is particularly useful when employed with cellphones and personal digital assistants with limited storage capacity.

In addition, the synchronization between the merchandising database andreplica (or between the client replica and the hosting server replica)synchronizes only changed data between the two databases. Nointermediate copy or translation operation is required. Instead, thesystem synchronizes changed fields in both databases, resolving anyconflicts in accordance with user input or other conflict resolutionmechanisms.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the merchandising databasealso includes display characteristics parameters that configure thepresentation of the order guide (i.e., an order web page) to theconsumer. In one embodiment, an order guide may be referred to as a“purchase order guide). The display characteristic parameters are set bythe business user in a setup and configuration module (not shown)provided by the embodiment of the business application. The displaycharacteristic parameters are recorded in the merchandising database inthe form of a BLOB (“Binary Large Object”). A BLOB is a database fieldthat can hold large amounts of arbitrarily formatted data, includingcustom formatted display parameters, images, audio, video, long textblocks, or any digitized information. The display characteristics canspecify any display characteristics of the order web pages, includingdata that would be defined in a web page style page. The BLOB isincluded in the server replica when the replica is generated. The webapplication reads the BLOB to configure the display characteristics ofthe order web pages, just as a style sheet might be read by a webapplication.

When the replica is synchronized with the merchandising database,changes to the BLOB caused by user access to the setup and configurationmodules are updated in the replica's BLOB, thereby updating the displaycharacteristics of the order web pages. In this manner, a business usercan maintain and customize his or her web site without maintaining aprolonged connection to the web server and without dealing with thecomplexities of style sheets and web programming. This approach takesadvantage of an embodiments support for intermittent connections betweenthe business application and the server.

FIG. 4 illustrates components of a business application in an embodimentof the present invention. A business application 400 may include aprimary business function module 402 for performing necessary businessoperations, such as those discussed with regard to the screen shots ofFIGS. 5 through 12. The business function processor 402 can receiveinput from the business user via business user input 406 (e.g.,keyboard, mouse, microphone, touch screen, etc.) and present output tothe business user via business user output 408 (e.g., video display,speaker, etc.) in a manner similar to other business applications, suchas database application, word processors, etc. In addition, the businessfunction module 402 can also communicate with external product sources410, such as vendors represented by a brokerage. Information receivedfrom the external product sources 410, such as inventory updates, newproducts and pricing, may be analyzed and recorded in the merchandisingdatabase 412, which the business function module 402 accesses via thedatabase interface 404. In an embodiment of the present invention, thedatabase interface is provided by Microsoft Access, which providesfunction calls through which an application can access a database.

When configuring an e-commerce system of the present invention, a usercan generate a partial replica for export to a web server. In theillustrated embodiment, the replica generator 414 filters merchandisingdata stored in the merchandising database 412 for exportation in apartial replica. In one embodiment of the present invention, the replicagenerator 414 employs predefined filtering rules to minimize the datacommunicated to and stored at the Web hosting server. Although notrequired in the present invention, the partial replica is likely toinclude only a partial subset of the merchandising data from themerchandising database 412 to minimize bandwidth requirements, uploadtimes, and storage requirements on the host server. In an embodiment ofthe present invention, a set of tables and fields from the merchandisingdatabase 412 are configured in a filter, which accesses themerchandising database through the database interface 404 and outputsthe resulting partial replica through the web host interface 418 forstorage on the Web hosting system 420. After the partial replica isexported to the Web hosting server 420, the communication link betweenWeb hosting server 420 and the business application 400 may beterminated (i.e., hence, an intermittent connection).

To maintain consistency between the partial replica in the Web hostingserver 420 and the merchandising database 412, the partial replica andthe merchandising database 412 may be synchronized. Responsive to asynchronization event (e.g., triggered by a synchronization schedule, auser command, or a modification to the merchandising database), asynchronization module 416 performs a bidirectional synchronization ofdata in the partial replica (see replica 210, for example) and themerchandizing database. In this synchronization process, for example,modified fields in the replica are written to corresponding fields inthe merchandising database and vice versa.

During synchronization, corresponding fields in the replica and themerchandising database, for example, may have been changed since thelast synchronization event, resulting in “conflicts” in the currentsynchronization. As such, an embodiment of the present invention mayinclude functionality for resolving such conflicts. One embodiment, forexample, displays the data from the modified fields to the user, who mayselect the data that he or she wishes to be applied in the nextsynchronization. In order to maintain the most current synchronizationbetween the merchandising database and the replica, a user mayimmediately resynchronize after resolving the conflicts. In theresynchronization event, the conflicting fields are resolved accordingto the user's selection. Alternatively, some resolutions may beaccomplished through the use of heuristic processes, predeterminedconflict resolution rules, or other conflict resolution mechanisms.

In an embodiment of the present invention, merchandising data exportedin the partial replica is not limited to product information.Merchandising information may also include customer information,contract information, prices, web page style information, customerpreferences, promotional material, etc. When such data is modified(e.g., through the business function module 402), synchronization willthen update the corresponding material in the partial replica, assumingthe fields are included in the filtering configuration of the replicagenerator 414.

As discussed, the partial replica is exported to the Web hosting serverto allow a customer to access the merchandising data in the partialreplica. In one embodiment, such access is facilitated through a webpage that is populated with a given subset of the merchandising datafrom the partial replica and transmitted to the customer's client system426. Thereafter, the customer may send order data for one or more givenproducts through the order interface 424. The order data is thenprocessed by the order processing module 422, which updates themerchandising database 412 with the order parameters. Alternatively, theorder processing module 422 can communicate directly with or beintegrated with the business function module 402, which can also accessand modify the merchandising data in the merchandising database 412. Forexample, instead of sending the order data directly to the businessapplication 400, the client system can send order data via the partialreplica at the Web hosting server. Accordingly, when the partial replicaand the merchandising database are synchronized, the order data will berecorded in the merchandising database, where the business functionmodule 402 can process the order data and communicate the order to theappropriate vendor. The business function module 402 can also transmitthe order parameters to the appropriate product source (e.g., vendor)for fulfillment of the order.

FIG. 5 depicts a business application screenshot of a “Parent” window inan embodiment of the present invention. The illustrated businessapplication is implemented using Microsoft® Access, although otherdatabase application environments and programming languages may beemployed within the scope of the present invention. The illustratedscreenshots in FIGS. 5 through 12 represent exemplary displays of abusiness application in an embodiment of the present invention.

Across the top of the main window extend a standard Microsoft® Accessapplication menu bar 500 and toolbar 502. A set of tabs extends acrossthe top of a child window. In the illustrated embodiment, the “Parent”tab 506 is selected; therefore, the elements of a “Parent” window aredisplayed. Other tabs supported in the illustrated embodiment include“Customer”, “Vendor”, “Contact”, “Product”, “Order”, “EDI”, and“Representative”, although other types of tabs may also be supportedwithin the scope of the present invention. The windows associated withother tabs are described with regard to other Figures.

The “Parent” window provides access to merchandising data relating to agiven parent company (i.e., “parent company data”). A Parent company maybe associated with merchandising data shared by multiple customers,vendors, representatives, contacts, and products. Exemplary fields mayinclude without limitation a company name field 508, electroniccommunications fields 510, account representative and referralinformation fields 512, and a notes field 514. Fields 516 represent abilling address at the indicated parent company. Fields 518 represent ashipping address at the indicated parent company. Fields 520 representcontact information at the indicated parent company. The data in thesefields are stored in the merchandising database and are available forreading and writing through the “Parent” window of the businessapplication.

FIG. 6 depicts a business application screenshot of a “Customer” windowin an embodiment of the present invention. In the illustratedembodiment, the “Customer” tab 600 is selected; therefore, the elementsof a “Customer” window are displayed. The “Customer” window providesaccess to merchandising data relating to a given customer (i.e.,“customer data”). In the illustrated embodiment, a “customer” representsa retailer that purchases wholesale products from vendors ormanufactures. Exemplary fields may include without limitation a customername field 604, the customer's parent company name field 606, electroniccommunications fields 608, a notes field 612, and fields 610 indicatingthe account status, the account representative, referral information anda customer type. Exemplary customer types may include without limitationAirline Catering, Basket Business, Bed N' Breakfast, Café, Candy AndGifts, Candy Manufacturer, Candy Store, and Card Store. Many otherretailers, wholesalers, manufacturers, and service providers may beincluded as customer types. Field 613 indicates a Tax ID number. Field614 indicates a password that can be used to login to a given accountvia the web application on the hosting server. Alternatively oradditionally, the password can be used to securing transmissions, suchas replications, synchronizations, orders, or web site accesses. Fields616 represent a billing address at the indicated customer company.Fields 618 represent a shipping address at the indicated customercompany. Control 619 allows a user to create a parent company associatedwith the current customer. Fields 620 represent contact information atthe indicated customer company. The “Links” tab 622 can display URLinksfor the selected customer. The data in these fields are stored in themerchandising database and are available for reading and writing throughthe “Customer” window of the business application.

FIG. 7 depicts a business application screenshot of a “Vendor” window inan embodiment of the present invention. In the illustrated embodiment,the “Vendor” tab 700 is selected; therefore, the elements of a “Vendor”window are displayed. The “Vendor” window provides access tomerchandising data relating to a given vendor (e.g., a company thatmanufactures or imports a given product or product line). Such data isreferred to as “vendor data”. Exemplary fields may include withoutlimitation a vendor name field 704, electronic communications fields706, a notes field 708 and a vendor description field 710. Fields 712represent a billing address at the indicated vendor company. Fields 714represent a shipping address at the indicated vendor company. Fields 720represent contact information at the indicated vendor company. The logofield 722 indicates the logo of the vendor that is to be displayed onthe host-server-resident web page relating to the vendor's products andon orders (e.g., order emails, order forms, order faxes, etc.). Byright-clicking on the logo field 722, a user can enter a pathname or URLto a graphic file that can be used by the web application whenpresenting product data to a customer on an order Web page, for example.The data in these fields are stored in the merchandising database andare available for reading and writing through the “Vendor” window of thebusiness application.

The line card check box 724 enables the inclusion of a given vendor'sproducts on the e-commerce web site. If the line card check box 724 isnot checked, the vendor and its products may be omitted from thereplica, either through a replication or synchronization event.Alternatively, a flag may be set in the replica that signals the webapplication to ignore information for the given vendor when generatingweb site information. The inventory check box 726 controls whetherinventory fields should be displayed on web-based product forms (SeeFIGS. 13-16) and line card reports, and whether the user should beprompted if an order exceeds available inventory for a given product.The back order check box 728 indicates whether the vendor fills backorders. If so, a business user may be prompted if an invoice, receivedfrom a vendor, varies by a predetermined price percentage from thecurrent balance. The business user will be prompted to append theremaining balance (i.e., the current balance minus the invoice amount)to a back order or to amend the order to alleviate the unfilled portionof the order.

FIG. 8 depicts a business application screenshot of a “Contact” windowin an embodiment of the present invention. In the illustratedembodiment, the “Contact” tab 800 is selected; therefore, the elementsof a “Contact” window are displayed. The “Contact” window providesaccess to merchandising data relating to of individual contacts atcompanies (i.e., “contact data”), such as parent companies, customers,vendors and other individuals. Contact information regarding agencyrepresentatives may also be accessed through the “Contacts” window.Exemplary fields may include without limitation a contact name field 802and fields 804 indicating the associations that the contact has withvendors, customers, etc. The “Contacts” window also includes electroniccommunications fields 806, a notes field 808 and a URLink 810 forindicating a web site address, such as a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).Additional contact information (e.g., email address and mailing address)is indicated in fields 812. Button 814 allows a user to generate aletter, a template of which is indicated in field 816) to the indicatedcontact. The Communications fields 818 provide an interface for loggingor recording times, dates, notes and other information about individualcommunications with the indicated contact. Types of communications (seefield 820) may include, without limitation, “Conference”, “Document”,“E-mail”, “Excel”, “Fax”, “Letter”, “Meeting”, “Note”, “Phone Call”,“Power Point”, “Task”, and “Word”. The data in these fields are storedin the merchandising database and are available for reading and writingthrough the “Contact” window of the business application.

FIG. 9 depicts a business application screenshot of a “Product” windowin an embodiment of the present invention. In the illustratedembodiment, the “Product” tab 900 is selected; therefore, the elementsof a “Product” window are displayed. The “Product” window providesaccess to merchandising data relating to a given product (i.e., productdata). In the illustrated embodiment, a “product” represents an item orservice offered for sale by a vendor. Exemplary fields may includewithout limitation a Vendor name field 902 (i.e., the vendor thatprovides the indicated products), a report field 904 for selecting froma set of predetermined (viewable and printable) reports, and a sortparameter field 906, which indicates the column of product entries bywhich the product list should be sorted.

The “Promotions” control group 908 provides access and controls topromotional information (e.g., sale items and terms). If more than twopromotions are available for a given product, the “Promotions” controlgroup 908 supports a scrollbar to allow access to all promotions. In theillustrated embodiment of the present invention, the promotions areallocated in accordance with a price list, such as Distributor orWholesale. Accordingly, the “Price List” field 912 indicates the pricelist corresponding to a given promotion. The “Begin” and “End” fields914 indicate the term or duration of the promotion. The “Price” fieldindicates the price for the selected product and the associated pricelist. In a field not displayed in the illustrated screenshot, thecommission associated with a given promotion is also indicated. A“delete” button 910 allows a user to delete an expired or incorrectpromotion. The “Filter Products?” check box 916 allows a user to filterthe vendor's products to display only those products with a promotionassociated with them. In table 918, the vendor's products and otherdetails are displayed. In an embodiment of the present invention, thedata in the fields described relative to FIG. 9 is stored in themerchandising database and are available for reading and writing throughthe “Product” window of the business application.

FIG. 10 depicts a business application screenshot of an “Order” windowin an embodiment of the present invention. In the illustratedembodiment, the “Order” tab 1000 is selected; therefore, the elements ofan “Order” window are displayed. Customized toolbar selections areassociated with the “Order” window. “Export” button 1050 provides accessto an order spreadsheet that can be exported to a file. “DuplicateOrder” button 1052 allows a user to create a new order havinginformation that is the same as the current order. “Fill Backorder”creates a back order (i.e., a new order in the database) and allows thebusiness user to edit the back order in accordance with new shippinginformation, pricing information, etc. “Reduce Inventory” button 1054allows a user to alter inventory information provided by the vendor, inaccordance with the current order.

The “Order” window provides access to merchandising data relating to agiven order for one or more products (i.e., “order data”). In theillustrated embodiment, an “order” represents a request for product(s)from a customer to a vendor. In an embodiment of the present example,the order information may be received from the customer via anautomatically processed order form received in email. Alternatively, theorder information can be entered manually by the business user inresponse to a phone call, fax, email, or other communication. Exemplaryfields may include without limitation a Vendor name field 1002 (i.e.,the vendor by which the ordered products will be provided) and adepartment field 1004 that identifies a given department at the customer(e.g., produce, bakery, floral, etc.). A billing address and othercontact information are provided in fields 1006. A shipping address andother contact information are provided in fields 1008.

The order type field 1010 indicates order characteristics, such asNormal, Opening Order, Over 90 days, Preorder File, Replacement,Samples, Show Order, Special Order, Thanksgiving, Trade Show,Valentines, and Weekly. The status field 1012 indicates the status ofthe order, including Archive, Backorder, Bid, Canceled, Credit Hold,Disputed, Incomplete, Invoiced, Outstanding, Paid, Pending, Rejected,Rep Paid, Sample, and Shipped. The invoice number may be indicated infield 1014. The date that the invoice was sent by the vendor to thecustomer may be indicated in field 1016. The invoice amount may beindicated in field 1018. The corresponding Vendor purchase order numbermay be indicated in VendorPO field 1020. The terms field 1022 indicatesthe terms of payment between the customer and the vendor for theindicated order.

Fields 1024 indicates the customer identification number, the associatedsales representative, the date that the order was placed by thecustomer, and a desired shipping date (or the begin ship date). Thefields 1024 also include a date by which the order can be cancelled bythe customer without penalty, a customer purchase order number, andshipping information (i.e., “Ship Via” and “FOB”). Field 1026 indicatesa discount to be applied to the order. The “Order” window also includesa “Notes” field 1028 indicating instructions entered by the customerwhen placing the order. The UPC indicator 1030 allows products look-upbased on UPC codes that are scanned in with a UPC scanner. The pricingfield 1032 indicates the type of pricing employed for the present order,including options such as “Wholesale”, “Distributor”, “Volume1”,“Volume2”, and “Contract”. The anticipated weight of the order isidentified in field 1034 for shipping cost purposes. The quantity ofitems in the order is indicated in field 1036. The total amount of theorder (minus shipping) is indicated in Amount field 1038.

Table 1040 identifies the individual products ordered, including itemnumbers, descriptions, sizes, quantities, prices, discounts, pricingtypes for individual products, and the status of the orders forindividual products, etc. “Unit” indicates how the product is billed(e.g., by the case or each). “BillQty” indicates an adjustment factorfor items ordered in one unit but billed in another (e.g., 1 wheel ofcheese=20 lbs×$4.50/lbs). “Extended” indicates a subtotal for a lineitem (e.g., Extended equals Qty−Price−Discount×BillQty). Field 1042 mayindicate the URL to the indicated vendor's web site. Fields 1044 mayindicate a log of transmissions relating to the order (e.g., to thevendor, to the customer, etc.). Fields 1046 indicate calculations andtotals for the indicated order. The data in these fields are stored inthe merchandising database and are available for reading and writingthrough the “Order” window of the business application.

FIG. 11 depicts a business application screenshot of an “EDI” window inan embodiment of the present invention. In the illustrated embodiment,the “EDI” tab 1100 is selected; therefore, the elements of an “EDI”window are displayed. The “EDI” window allows a user to perform EDIfunctions, such as importing data to or exporting data from themerchandising database, generating replicas, and synchronizing themerchandising database with a replica. For example, if a vendor providescatalog information in electronic form, a user can provide an importprofile or format that maps the catalog information into appropriatefields of the merchandising database. As such, the business applicationcan support nearly automatic updating of vendor information. Imports,however, are not limited to catalog data, but can also import any otherinformation that can be mapped to fields in the merchandising database,such as contact information from electronic business cards, orderinformation, etc. Exporting, in contrast, can be used to providemerchandising data to another system by mapping merchandising datafields to fields of the other system using an export profile or format.This feature, for example, may be used to transmit orders to a vendorthat supports an EDI communication. Exemplary fields may include withoutlimitation an Import field 1100 and an Export field 1102, which identifyfunctions or formats used in the corresponding import, export,replication, or synchronization function. As a function is selected,additional fields are display as appropriate for the selected function.The data in these fields are stored in the merchandising database andare available for reading and writing through the “EDI” window of thebusiness application. For example, the profiles identified in previousimports/exports are stored in the merchandising database and may beselected using the drop down box associated with the fields.

In addition, the EDI window provides access to other EDI functions, suchas synchronization and replication. After specification of a replicaindicator (e.g., a pathname or URL to a given replica) and amerchandising database indicator (e.g., a pathname or URL to a givenmerchandising database), the synchronization module 416 of FIG. 4 can bedirected to perform a unidirectional or bidirectional synchronizationbetween the replica and the merchandising database, in accordance withthe tables and fields shared between the two databases. Alternatively,after specification of a given merchandising database and a destinationreplica, the replica generator 414 of FIG. 4 can generate a replica inaccordance with predetermined filtering rules. In this manner, a partialreplica can be generated and recorded on a Web hosting server.Thereafter, a web application executing on the Web hosting server canpresent merchandising data from the partial replica to a customeraccessing Web hosting server.

FIG. 12 depicts a business application screenshot of a “Representative”window in an embodiment of the present invention. In the illustratedembodiment, the “Representative” tab 1200 is selected; therefore, theelements of a “Representative” window are displayed. The“Representative” window provides access to merchandising data relatingto a given reprehensive and the companies the representative represents(i.e., “representative data”). Exemplary fields may include withoutlimitation a representative name field 1202, a position title field 1204for the representative, a multimedia field 1206 for displaying a logo, aphotograph, an animation, a video, etc., and a notes field 1208. A table1210 indicates under the “CustomerList” tab, the companies representedby the representative. The data in these fields are stored in themerchandising database and are available for reading and writing throughthe “Vendor” window of the business application.

As FIGS. 5 through 12 illustrate displays of an exemplary businessapplication, FIGS. 13 through 15 illustrate Web page displays a customermay view when accessing the partial replica through a web page displayedthrough a browser. As discussed, a browser or other client-basedapplication can be used to access the partial replica stored at the hostcomputer system. A customer can read access merchandising data from thepartial replica and, optionally, modify the merchandising data in thepartial replica, providing the customer has the necessary authorizationto do so. In this manner, a customer can place orders or make changes toorders, company and contact information, etc., which can bebi-directionally synchronized with the merchandising database at theagency, where the changes can also be reviewed by the agency personnelbefore the changes are recorded. Alternatively, modification of suchdata or placement of orders may be effected through a secondcommunications link, such as an email communication with the agency.

FIG. 13 depicts a screenshot of an “Order” web page in an embodiment ofthe present invention. In the illustration, a user has accessed apartial replica on a Web hosting server. A web application generated inassociation with the business application at the agency is activated tosend appropriate web pages to connected customers. For example, assumethe customer is a purchasing manager for a specialty cheese shop, whoplacing orders for products from European Imports, Ltd. through the BillFitzgerald Brokerage. Although the illustrated web page screenshots aredepicted within a Microsoft Internet Explorer window, other browserapplications may be used to access the partial replica within the scopeof the present invention.

Some elements of the displayed web page 1300 are standard elementsprovided by the web application, while other elements are specific tothe individual agency. The agency's specifications and custom displayelements can be exported in the partial replica for use by the webapplication. The name, font, and size of the agency's title 1302 can bespecified by the agency in the illustrated embodiment. Furthermore, thelogo may be exported to the partial replica. If either of these displayelements, or other display elements, are modified by the agency, asynchronization between the merchandising database and the partialreplica will update the generated web pages.

Fields 1304 includes a customer name field, a requested ship date field,and a selected vendor field. The customer name is determined based on alogin process for entering the web site. Notice that the login processalso invokes a secure communication connection between the clientcomputer and the host server, as evidenced by the padlock icon 1305.After login, the customer specifies a desired ship date and selects thevendor from whom he or she wishes to order products. As a result of thisoperation, a web page resembling the screenshot of FIG. 13 is displayed(i.e., displaying frames 1306 and 1308). When first entering the webpage (i.e., the initial display of the web page), the frame 1308displays only the boxed controls 1310. The “Key word, item#, or UPC”field can be used in combination with the “Search” button to search formatching. After the first search operation, a list similar to the list1312 is shown in the frame 1308. By selecting a specific category, thesearch results can be filtered. In one embodiment, leaving the “Keyword, item#, or UPC” field blank and selecting the “ALL” categoryresults in a display (in a scroll window) of all possible products soldby the selected vendor through the given brokerage. By selecting the“Item#” button corresponding to a particular product, the product isadded to the product table 1314, as discussed with regard to FIG. 14.

FIG. 14 depicts screenshot of an “Order” web page populated withselected products in an embodiment of the present invention. The producttable 1400 now shows three items selected for ordering from EuropeanImports Ltd. The Totals fields 1402 show the results calculated inresponse to an “Add/Recalculate” operation invoked by pressing button1404. In addition, in one embodiment of the present invention, the“Header/Submit” button 1406 and the “Clear Form” button are displayedafter the first item is entered into the product table 1400. Depressingthe “Header/Submit” button 1406 submits the product table 1400 as anorder. Depressing the button 1408 clears the contents from the producttable 1400. Within the product table 1400, quantities of productsordered can be modified by changing number in the Qty field. Inaddition, product-specific notes can be entered into the Note field.

One enhancement to the “Order” web page involves the method ofrecalculating the data in the “Totals” fields 1402. In one embodiment,all data fields are re-looked up in the replica and re-processed whenthe consumer depresses the “Add/Recalculate”. This operation can bequite time consuming when many line items are included in an order. Assuch, in an enhanced embodiment, a flag is maintained for each line itemelement. As such, if a consumer changes a quantity in one line item, the“changed” flag for the quantity data in that line item is set. If otherline item elements are modified, corresponding flags are also set. Whenthe consumer depresses the “Add/Recalculate” button, line items havingchanged elements are looked up again in the database (e.g., if the Item#has been modified), the Extended (Price) for the changed line items isrecalculated (e.g., if the Qty or Price is modified), and/or the data inthe Totals fields are recalculated (e.g., (e.g., if any Qty or Price inthe order is modified). In this manner, only changed line items arere-looked up, significantly improving the web server response time.

FIG. 15 depicts a screenshot of an “Order Review” web page in anembodiment of the present invention. Fields 1500 indicate the shippingaddress, which may be retrieved from the customer information in thepartial replica. The product review table 1502 displays the productsselected for ordering. The order may be submitted by depressing theSubmit button 1504. The “Order Review” web page is printer friendly, sothat the order can be printed by the consumer using the browser'sprinting functions. In an alternative embodiment, a customer may alsoassociate a customer PO number with the order.

FIG. 16 depicts a general purpose computer capable of executing aprogram product embodiment of the present invention. One operatingenvironment in which the present invention is potentially usefulencompasses the general purpose computer. In such a system, data andprogram files may be input to the computer, which reads the files andexecutes the programs therein. Some of the elements of a general purposecomputer are shown in FIG. 16 wherein a processor 1601 is shown havingan input/output (I/O) section 1602, a Central Processing Unit (CPU)1603, and a memory section 1604. The present invention is optionallyimplemented in software devices loaded in memory 1604 and/or stored on aconfigured CD-ROM 1608 or storage unit 1609 thereby transforming thecomputer system in FIG. 16 to a special purpose machine for implementingthe present invention.

The I/O section 1602 is connected to keyboard 1605, display unit 1606,disk storage unit 1609, and disk drive unit 1607. Generally, incontemporary systems, the disk drive unit 1607 is a CD-ROM driver unitcapable of reading the CD-ROM medium 1608, which typically containsprograms 1610 and data. Computer program products containing mechanismsto effectuate the systems and methods in accordance with the presentinvention may reside in the memory section 1604, on a disk storage unit1609, or on the CD-ROM medium 1608 of such a system. Alternatively, diskdrive unit 1607 may be replaced or supplemented by a floppy drive unit,a tape drive unit, or other storage medium drive unit. The networkadapter 1611 is capable of connecting the computer system to a networkvia the network link 1612. Examples of such systems include withoutlimitation SPARC systems offered by Sun Microsystems, Inc., personalcomputers offered by IBM Corporation and by other manufacturers ofIBM-compatible personal computers, and other systems running aUNIX-based or other operating system. In accordance with the presentinvention, software instructions directed toward accepting and relayingpurchase orders using an intermittent connection to a merchandisingdatabase, a partial replica, or a client replica may be executed by CPU1603, and merchandising data may be stored on disk storage unit 1609,disk drive unit 1607 or other storage medium units coupled to thesystem.

FIG. 17 depicts a screenshot of order processing by a businessapplication in an embodiment of the present invention. The dialog box1700 includes an Inbox button 1702, which a business user can select toscan the business user's inbox for orders that have been received viaemail. In one embodiment, the order processing module of the businessapplication scans the contents of the inbox searching for email headerinformation indicating that a particular email document contains anorder.

FIG. 18 depicts a screenshot of a dialog box indicating that an emailorder has been located in the inbox of the business user in anembodiment of the present invention. The dialog box 1800 asks thebusiness user if the located email order is to be processed by the orderprocessing module. If the business user responds by depressing the “YES”button, the located email order is automatically processed. If thebusiness user responds by depressing the “NO” button, the orderprocessing module continues searching the inbox for additional emailorders.

In some embodiments, automatic processing can result the merchandisingdatabase being updated with appropriate order information. The businessuser can then manually contact the appropriate vendor throughtraditional channels (e.g., phone, fax, email, dial-up). In alternativeembodiments, the new order information can also be communicated directlyand automatically to the appropriate vendor, through an additional emailordering process to the vendor, through a fax to the vendor, through EDIwith the vendor, and through other automatic means.

FIG. 19 depicts a message box indicating a date variance in anembodiment of the present invention. During order processing,predetermined variances are processed by the order processing module orsome other module in the business application. Potential variances arecompared against variance rules to determine whether a given element oforder data is within a given tolerance. For example, the varianceprocessing that results in message box 1900 compares the order ship dateto the current date and determines that the order ship date has passed.Accordingly, the business user has the option of accepting the order,even though the ship date has lapsed, or canceling the order. If theorder is accepted, the order processing proceeds normally. However, ifthe order is canceled, a notice may be sent to the consumer describingthe variance and the resulting cancellation.

FIG. 20 depicts operations for processing orders using a merchandisingdatabase in an embodiment of the present invention. Operation 2000generates a replica from the merchandising database. In one embodimentof the present invention, the replica contains merchandising data thatis filtered from the merchandising database. For example, one type ofreplica may omit order data (e.g., order headers and order details).Operation 2002 establishes a communications link between the Web hostingserver and the business application. Operation 2004 transmits thereplica to the Web hosting server, and then operation 2006 terminatesthe communications link.

Operation 2008 receives an order from a consumer via an independentcommunications link (i.e., not the identical communications link inwhich the replica was transmitted to the Web hosting server). Operation2010 modified the merchandising database in accordance with the order.For example, a new order header and new order details are added to themerchandising database.

The embodiments of the invention described herein are implemented aslogical steps in one or more computer systems. The logical operations ofthe present invention are implemented (1) as a sequence ofprocessor-implemented steps executing in one or more computer systemsand (2) as interconnected machine modules within one or more computersystems. The implementation is a matter of choice, dependent on theperformance requirements of the computer system implementing theinvention. Accordingly, the logical operations making up the embodimentsof the invention described herein are referred to variously asoperations, steps, objects, or modules.

The above specification, examples and data provide a completedescription of the structure and use of embodiment of the invention.Since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in theclaims hereinafter appended.

1. A merchandising system for processing a customer order in associationwith a web hosting computer, a client computer, and a businessapplication computer, the web hosting computer and the businessapplication computer being intermittently connected by a communicationslink, the merchandising system comprising: a merchandising databasecontaining merchandising data including order data pertaining tocustomer orders for merchandise, the merchandising system managingmerchandising data received from a plurality of vendors; a web hostinterface establishing a communications link between the businessapplication computer and the web hosting computer; a replica generatorexecuting on the business application computer to filter out at leastthe order data from the merchandising database to create a replica ofthe merchandise database containing the merchandising data without theorder data for transmission to the web hosting computer across theintermittently connected communications link; a web applicationexecuting on the web hosting computer and generating an order guide thatdisplays the merchandising data from the replica on the client computer;and a synchronization module synchronizing the replica with themerchandising database to cause only modifications made to themerchandising database to be updated in the replica.
 2. Themerchandising system of claim 1 further comprising: an order processingmodule that processes an email order received from the web application,based on an order placed by a consumer through the order guide.
 3. Themerchandising system of claim 1 further comprising: a business functionmodule executing on the business application computer to manage themerchandising database.
 4. The merchandising system of claim 2 whereinthe business function module provides access to product data stored inthe merchandising database.
 5. The merchandising system of claim 2wherein the business function module provides access to vendor datastored in the merchandising database.
 6. The merchandising system ofclaim 2 wherein the business function module provides access to customerdata stored in the merchandising database.
 7. The merchandising systemof claim 2 wherein the business function module provides access to orderdata stored in the merchandising database.
 8. The merchandising systemof claim 1 further comprising: a client replica generator executing onthe web hosting computer to create a client replica for transmission tothe client computer across an intermittent connection between the clientcomputer and the web hosting computer.
 9. The merchandising system ofclaim 7 wherein the client replica remains stored at the client computerafter the intermittent connection between the client computer and theweb hosting computer is terminated to provide a consumer with access tomerchandising data stored in the client replica.
 10. A merchandisingsystem for processing a customer order in association with a web hostingcomputer, a client computer, and a business application computer, theweb hosting computer and the business application computer beingintermittently connected by a communications link, the merchandisingsystem comprising: a merchandising database containing merchandisingdata including order data pertaining to customer orders for merchandiseand display characteristic parameters, the merchandising system managingmerchandising data received from a plurality of vendors; a replicagenerator executing on the business application computer to filter outat least the order data from the merchandising database to create areplica of the merchandising database containing the merchandising datawithout the order data for transmission to the web hosting computeracross the intermittently connected communications link between thebusiness application computer and the web hosting computer, the replicaincluding the display characteristic parameters; a web applicationreceiving the replica at the web hosting computer from across theintermittently connected communications link and generating an orderguide for displaying the merchandising data from the replica on theclient computer, the order guide having display characteristicsconfigured in accordance with the display characteristic parametersrecorded in the replica; and a synchronization module synchronizing thereplica with the merchandising database to cause only modifications madeto the merchandising database to be updated in the replica.
 11. Themerchandising system of claim 9 further comprising: a replica generatorexecuting on the web hosting computer to create a client replica fortransmission to the client computer across an intermittent connectionbetween the client computer and the web hosting computer.
 12. Themerchandising system of claim 10 wherein the client replica remainsstored at the client computer after the intermittent connection betweenthe client computer and the web hosting computer is terminated toprovide a consumer with access to the merchandising data stored in theclient replica.
 13. A computer program product encoding a computerprogram for executing on a business application computer system acomputer process for processing orders for a plurality of vendors usinga merchandising database storing merchandising data including orderdata, the orders being generated responsive to at least one selectionentered at a client computer coupled to a web hosting computer, thecomputer process comprising: generating a replica containing a subset ofthe merchandising data from the merchandising database by filtering outthe order data pertaining to customer orders for merchandise;establishing a communications link between the business applicationcomputer system and the web hosting computer; transmitting the replicaof the merchandising database to the web hosting computer for display ina web page on a client computer; disconnecting the communications linkbetween the business application computer system and the web hostingcomputer, responsive to the operation of transmitting the replica;receiving an order from a customer based on the replica originating atthe client computer, the order being received after the disconnectingoperation via an independent communications link; modifying themerchandising database in accordance with the order; reconnecting thebusiness application computer system to the web hosting computer;synchronizing the replica with the merchandising database to cause onlymodifications associated with the modifying operation on themerchandising database to be updated in the replica, when the businessapplication computer system is disconnected from the web hostingcomputer; and disconnecting the business application computer systemfrom the web hosting computer.
 14. The computer program product of claim11 wherein the computer process further comprises: detecting a conflictbetween the replica and the merchandising database; presenting theconflict to a user; and resolving the conflict based on user input. 15.The computer program product of claim 11 wherein the computer processfurther comprises: adding one or more display characteristic parametersto the replica, the display characteristic parameters specifying displaycharacteristics of an order guide.
 16. The computer program product ofclaim 13 wherein the computer process further comprises: using thedisplay characteristic parameters from the replica to dynamicallygenerate the order guide.
 17. The computer program product of claim 11wherein the computer process further comprises: detecting a variance inthe order based on an expected value; presenting the variance to a userfor resolution; and resolving the variance based on user input.
 18. Amethod of processing orders for a plurality of vendors using amerchandising database storing merchandising data including order data,the orders being generated responsive to at least one selection enteredat a client computer coupled to a web hosting computer, the methodcomprising: generating a replica at a business application computercontaining a subset of the merchandising data from the merchandisingdatabase by filtering out the order data pertaining to customer ordersfor merchandise; establishing a communications link between the businessapplication computer and the web hosting computer, transmitting thereplica of the merchandising database to the web hosting computer fordisplay in a web page on a client computer; disconnecting thecommunication link between the business application computer and the webhosting computer, responsive to the operation of transmitting thereplica; receiving an order based on the replica from a customeroriginating at the client computer, the order being received after thedisconnecting operation via an independent communications link;modifying the merchandising database in accordance with the order;reconnecting the business application computer system to the web hostingcomputer; synchronizing the replica with the merchandising database tocause only modifications associated with the modifying operation on themerchandising database to be updated in the replica, when the businessapplication computer is disconnected from the web hosing computer; anddisconnecting the business application computer system from the webhosting computer.
 19. The method of claim 18 further comprising:reconnecting the business application computer system to the Web hostingcomputer; synchronizing the replica with the merchandising database tocause only modifications associated with the modifying operation on themerchandising database to be updated in the replica, when the businessapplication computer system is disconnected from the Web hostingcomputer; and disconnecting the business application computer systemfrom the Web hosting computer.
 20. The method of claim 15 wherein thegenerating operation comprises: adding one or more displaycharacteristic parameters to the replica, the display characterparameters specifying display characteristics of an order guide.
 21. Themethod of claim 16 further comprising: using the display characteristicparameters from the replica to dynamically generate the order guide. 22.The method of claim 15 further comprising: manipulating data in themerchandising database via the business application computer.
 23. Amerchandising system for managing merchandising data received from aplurality of vendors in association with a web hosting computer and abusiness application computer, the web hosting computer and the businessapplication computer being communicatively coupled by an intermittentlyconnected by a communications link, the merchandising system comprising:a merchandising database containing merchandising data including orderdata pertaining to customer orders for merchandise and being managed bythe business application computer; a replica generator executing on thebusiness application computer to filter out at least the order data fromthe merchandising database to create a replica of the merchandisingdatabase containing the merchandising data without the order data fortransmission to the web hosting computer across the intermittentlyconnected communications link for display on a web page of a clientcomputer; and a synchronization module synchronizing the replica withthe merchandising database to cause only modifications made to themerchandising database to be updated in the replica.
 24. A method ofmanaging merchandising data received from a plurality of vendors inassociation with a web hosting computer and a business applicationcomputer, the web hosting computer and the business application computerbeing communicatively coupled by an intermittently connectedcommunications link, the method comprising: maintaining a merchandisingdatabase containing the merchandising data and being managed by thebusiness application computer, the merchandising data in themerchandising database including order data pertaining to consumerorders for the merchandise; filtering out at least the order data fromthe merchandising database to create a replica of the merchandisingdatabase containing the merchandising data without the order data;transmitting the replica to the web hosting computer across theintermittently connected communications link; and synchronizing thereplica with the merchandising database to cause only modifications madeto the merchandising database to be updated in the replica.
 25. Acomputer program product encoding a computer program for executing acomputer process for managing merchandising data received from aplurality of vendors in association with a web hosting computer and abusiness application computer, the web hosting computer and the businessapplication computer being communicatively coupled by an intermittentlyconnected communications link, the computer process comprising:maintaining a merchandising database containing the merchandising dataand being managed by the business application computer, themerchandising data in the merchandising database including order datapertaining to customer orders for merchandise; filtering out at leastthe order data from the merchandising database to create a replica ofthe merchandising database containing the merchandising data without theorder data; transmitting the replica to the web hosting computer acrossthe intermittently connected communications link for display in a webpage on a client computer; synchronizing the replica with themerchandising database to cause only modifications made to themerchandising database to be updated in the replica.
 26. A merchandisingsystem for managing merchandising data received from a plurality ofvendors in association with a web hosting computer, a client computer,and a business application computer, the web hosting computer and thebusiness application computer being communicatively coupled by anintermittently connected communications link, the merchandising systemcomprising: a merchandising database containing the merchandising dataincluding order data pertaining to customer orders for merchandise anddisplay characteristic parameters and being managed by the businessapplication computer; a replica generator executing on the businessapplication computer to generate a replica, said replica comprising asubset of the merchandising data from the merchandising database byfiltering out at least the order data for transmission to the webhosting computer from across the intermittently connected communicationslink to allow generation of an order guide for displaying themerchandising data from the replica in a web page on the clientcomputer, the order guide having display characteristics configured inaccordance with the display characteristic parameters recorded in thereplica; and a synchronization module synchronizing the replica with themerchandising database to cause only modifications made to themerchandising database to be updated in the replica.
 27. A method ofmanaging merchandising data received from a plurality of vendors inassociation with a web hosting computer, a client computer, and abusiness application computer, the web hosting computer and the businessapplication computer being communicatively coupled by an intermittentlyconnected communications link, the method comprising: maintaining amerchandising database containing merchandising data that is managed bythe business application computer, the merchandising data in themerchandising database including order data pertaining to customerorders for merchandise and display characteristic parameters; accessingthe merchandising database and generating a replica of a subset of themerchandising data from the merchandising database by filtering out atleast the order data, the replica including the display characteristicparameters; and transmitting the replica to the web hosting computerfrom across the intermittently connected communications link to allowgeneration of an order guide for displaying the merchandising data fromthe replica in a web page on the client computer, the order guide havingdisplay characteristics configured in accordance with the displaycharacteristic parameters recorded in the replica; and synchronizing thereplica with the merchandising database to cause only modifications madeto the merchandising database to be updated in the replica.
 28. Acomputer program product encoding a computer program for executing acomputer process for managing merchandising data received from aplurality of vendors in association with a web hosting computer, aclient computer, and a business application computer, the web hostingcomputer and the business application computer being communicativelycoupled by an intermittently connected communications link, the computerprocess comprising: maintaining a merchandising database containing themerchandising data and being managed by the business applicationcomputer, the merchandising data in the merchandising database includingorder data pertaining to customer orders for merchandise and displaycharacteristic parameters; accessing the merchandising database andgenerating a replica of a subset of the merchandising data from themerchandising database by filtering out at least the order data, thereplica including the display characteristic parameters; andtransmitting the replica to the web hosting computer from across theintermittently connected communications link to allow generation of anorder guide for displaying the merchandising data from the replica in aweb page on the client computer, the order guide having displaycharacteristics configured in accordance with the display characteristicparameters recorded in the replica; synchronizing the replica with themerchandising database to cause only modifications made to themerchandising database to be updated in the replica.
 29. A merchandisingsystem for processing a customer order in association with a web hostingcomputer, a client computer, and a business application computer, theweb hosting computer and the business application computer beingcommunicatively coupled by an intermittently connected communicationslink, the merchandising system comprising: a merchandising databasecontaining the merchandising data including order data pertaining tocustomer orders for the merchandise, the merchandising system managingmerchandising data received from a plurality of vendors; a web hostinterface establishing the communications link with the web hostingcomputer; a replica generator executing on the business applicationcomputer to filter out at least the order data form the merchandisingdatabase to create a replica containing the merchandising data withoutthe order data for transmission to the web hosting computer across theintermittently connected communications link; a web applicationexecuting on the web hosting computer and generating an order guide thatdisplays at least a portion of the merchandising data from the replicaon the client computer; and a synchronization module synchronizing themerchandising database and the replica.
 30. A computer program productencoding a computer program for executing on a business applicationcomputer system a computer process for processing orders for a pluralityof vendors using a merchandising database storing merchandising dataincluding vendor data received from a plurality of vendors describingmerchandise offered for sale by the vendors and order data pertaining toconsumer orders for the merchandise, the orders being generatedresponsive to at least one selection entered at the client computercoupled to a web hosting computer, the computer process comprising:generating a replica containing a subset of the merchandising data fromthe merchandising database by filtering out the order data pertaining tocustomer orders for merchandise; establishing a communications linkbetween the business application computer system and the web hostingcomputer; transmitting the replica of the merchandising database to theweb hosting computer for display in a web page on a client computer;disconnecting the communications link between the business applicationcomputer system and the web hosting computer, responsive to theoperation of transmitting the replica; receiving an order from acustomer based on the replica and originating at the client computer,the order being received after the disconnecting operation via anindependent communications link; modifying the merchandising database inaccordance with the order; reconnecting the business applicationcomputer system to the web hosting computer; and synchronizing thereplica and the merchandising database.
 31. A method of processingorders for a plurality of vendors using a merchandising database storingmerchandising data including vendor data received from a plurality ofvendors describing merchandise offered for sale by the vendors, theorders being generated responsive to at least one selection entered at aclient computer coupled to a web hosting computer, the computer processcomprising generating a replica at a business application computercontaining the a subset of the merchandising data from the merchandisingdatabase by filtering out the order data pertaining to customer ordersfor merchandise; establishing a communications link between the businessapplication computer and the web hosting computer; transmitting thereplica of the merchandising database to the web hosting computer fordisplay in a web page on a client computer; disconnecting thecommunication link between the business application computer system fromthe web hosting computer, responsive to the operation of transmittingthe replica; receiving an order based from a customer on the replica,originating at the client computer, the order being received after thedisconnecting operation via an independent communications link; andmodifying the merchandising database in accordance with the order; andsynchronizing the merchandising database with the replica.